JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

The Freedom of Birds by Stephanie Parkyn

Remi Victoire is the golden child among all the theatre orphans; he dreams of a life on a Paris stage. But when this future is stolen from him, Remi and his faithful friend Pascal turn their backs on Paris forever.

With Saskia, a runaway orphan girl, Remi and Pascal form a performing troupe, travelling through the fairytale lands that are home to the Brothers Grimm, before finding a safe haven in Venice.

As Napoleon’s vast Empire crumbles, the French storytellers discover that Paris itself is now at risk of invasion and they fear for the loved ones they have left behind.

From picturesque villages to Italian theatres and on to the battlefields outside of Paris, this is a beautifully told story about the bonds of love and friendship, the importance of stories, and finding a place to belong.

Set in Europe in the early 1800s, Stephanie Parkyn’s The Freedom of Birds is historical fiction centring around a trio of orphan children who band together to form a performing troupe. From France to Italy, and the battlefields in between, Saskia, Remi and Pascal must learn to survive on their own.

The Freedom of Birds brings disadvantaged and marginalised characters to the forefront. There’s an element of fairytales and folklore running as an undercurrent to the novel, which makes it feel oddly comforting and reassuring at a time like this.

I’ve since realised there is some connection between this book and Stephanie’s previous two works — luckily, you don’t need to read her first two books to follow this one, although I’m sure it’d help provide additional context to the historical setting.

“Did they wonder, the townsfolk, how Father had come to possess her? Had they questioned her sudden arrival to that desolate church? No doubt he had spun a convincing story. Perhaps he told them he had rescued her from wickedness and vice and delivered her into the lap of God.”

Strengths lie in the research and political turmoil captured in the book. Whilst a lot of the events happening in that time period — particularly those related to war — went straight over my head and waned my interest, I appreciate how much work has gone into writing this book and I acknowledge there’ll be a loyal readership who will find themselves in love with the time period and the setting of the book.

From the battlefields to the tension, to the hatred for their unjust treatment, The Freedom of Birds transports you to another time and allows you to feel completely enveloped in the early 1800s. Each of the core characters are unique in their journey and their role within the story — each are fighting battles both in their minds and their environments. Their journeys in the book reflect their pursuit for the truth, and for the family they’ve never known.

“The smell of hay, manure, piss — I woke with it filling my nose and mouth, face down and chewing on the stable scrapings. I rolled over slowly, not wanting to move my head, feeling the hammers strike anvils behind my eyes. I prised an eyelid open.”

There were a couple of things that I didn’t love about the book, and the main one was the perspective shift. We move between Saskia, Remi and Pascal, but two of these voices are in third person and one is in first person. I found this incredibly jolting and sometimes I got confused about which perspective we were now in. I wonder why the author wrote it like this, instead of writing all three of them in third person and perhaps including a header at the beginning of each chapter with their name, so we immediately knew who we were following.

And secondly, I struggled with the pacing of the novel. It’s very slow. Too slow. Events didn’t seem to hold the magnitude they needed for historical fiction. So, whilst plotting was present and things did happen, they never seemed to be building towards enough of a climax to keep a reader hooked.

“Hunger gripped Pascal’s stomach like a dog that would not relinquish a stick. It gnawed at him. He felt each bite like a sudden cramp. Hunger hurt. He was tired of the ache.”

Recommended for historical fiction readers. Readership skews female, 35+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Freedom of Birds
Stephanie Parkyn
December 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

My Body by Emily Ratajkowski

Emily Ratajkowski is an acclaimed model and actress, an engaged political progressive, a formidable entrepreneur, a global social media phenomenon, and now, a writer. Rocketing to world fame at age twenty-one, Ratajkowski sparked both praise and furor with the provocative display of her body as an unapologetic statement of feminist empowerment. The subsequent evolution in her thinking about our culture’s commodification of women is the subject of this book.

My Body is a profoundly personal exploration of feminism, sexuality, and power, of men’s treatment of women and women’s rationalizations for accepting that treatment. These essays chronicle moments from Ratajkowski’s life while investigating the culture’s fetishization of girls and female beauty, its obsession with and contempt for women’s sexuality, the perverse dynamics of the fashion and film industries, and the grey area between consent and abuse. Nuanced, unflinching, and incisive, My Body marks the debut of a fierce writer brimming with courage and intelligence.

In her memoir, international model and actor Emily Ratajkowski reflects on her relationship with her body, and in return, how other people seem to build a relationship with her body. Famous for her tiny waist and countless nude photoshoots, Emily is internationally regarded for her beauty. Whilst I’ve long been aware of Emily, I’ve not spent much time following her career. She did indeed catapult to international fame when she appeared in the Blurred Lines music video, and this success has allowed her access to an even greater array of career opportunities.

Whilst the book feels scattered with Emily hopping between memories, experiences and reflections, she ponders many aspects of her life in such a short amount of pages. My Body allows her to reflect on how people view her through her body — people deem her worthy of their time based on her looks, rather than her personality or her intelligence. And she does come across very intelligent in this memoir.

“The shoot for the video was at a large studio in Silver Lake, only a fifteen-minute drive from my loft. I arrived with an empty stomach, having made sure not to eat too much the night before because I knew I’d be naked — topless at the very minimum — on set the next day.”

My Body is quite remarkable and far exceeded my expectations. Emily writes with ease, and her introspection and reflection of past events paints her to be quite the smart, resourceful writer. Her writing is clear-cut and stripped back — dialogue and prose flow together seamlessly. The way she reflects on other people’s behaviour and body language resembles a high level of awareness and ability to observe others.

Emily is unapologetic in her essays, allowing herself the opportunity to tell her truth exactly as she wants it. She doesn’t appear to fear other opinions of her, if they’re accurate. This memoir feels like an opportunity to correct those who only think of Emily in connection with Blurred Lines. Her biggest aim, it seems, is for people to stop underestimating her.

“My body was light and fragile, like a shell doomed to shatter, as I walked through my aunt’s front door, a bell jingling as it swung open. I greeted my extended family, feeling my uncle’s cool skin against my cheek when I hugged him, knowing that they’d be even more disapproving of me than my mother had been.”

Emily seemingly does not address her role in the industry she chastises. She critiques the kind of money one can earn by flaunting products on Instagram, but does not seem to suggest she will stop doing any of this on her own accounts. She describes oppressive moments in her career — powerful, rich men paying for her attendance at events, for example — but does not seem interested in changing the system. The memoir reads like a recount of events, a diary perhaps, but does not seem to make commentary on more expansive ideas or beliefs.

Despite this, I found the book enlightening and the writing of considerable talent. I dare say people will walk away with a newfound insight into her career trajectory. With greater understanding into some of these moments in her life, Emily has opened herself up to divergent career paths perhaps outside the realm of modelling and acting.

“At the spa, we all understand that we can see each other, but we don’t look. We’re comforted by our collective nakedness. We’re not here to perform. We don’t have to be self-aware. Our bodies are simply undergoing maintenance. When I’m here, I’m anonymous, just another body.”

Raw and emotional, and incredibly insightful and well-written, this memoir comes highly recommended. Readership skews female, 20+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

My Body
Emily Ratajkowski
November 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel by Sarah Steele

France, 1942. At the end of the day, the schoolteacher releases her pupils. She checks they have their identity passes, and warns them not to stop until the German guards have let them through the barrier that separates occupied France from Free France. As the little ones fly across the border and into their mothers’ arms, she breathes a sigh of relief. No one is safe now. Not even the children.

Berkshire, present day. A letter left to her by her beloved late grandmother Gigi takes Hannah Stone on a journey deep into the heart of the Dordogne landscape. As she begins to unravel a forgotten history of wartime bravery and sacrifice, she discovers the heartrending secret that binds her grandmother to a village schoolteacher, the remarkable Lucie Laval . . .

Sarah Steele’s The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel is dual-timeline historical fiction. In present day, we meet the passionate but emotionally detached Hannah Stone, still grieving the loss of her grandmother and mother as she tries to take care of her ailing father. She is also still reeling from the breakdown of her relationship the year prior, something she’d prefer to forget about than confront. When she discovers a letter from her late grandmother that raises questions about her past, she heads to France to hunt down the secrets from her youth that she worked so hard to keep.

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel is both emotional and raw, set within a high stakes environment. At a time when a revealed secret could mean instant death, Sarah Steele paints a vivid, emotive journey for all readers.

“Why hadn’t she talked to him when she felt the dark cloud forming around her again after Lorna’s death? She had pushed him away, refused to see his help for what it was…she picked up her phone, toyed again with sending him a message. But what would she say?”

As with most historical fiction, I feel the strength lies in the storyline of the past — Gigi’s years during World War II felt like a part of history that is largely untold, so it was quite interesting to follow her portion of the novel. It was apparent how much research had gone into the novel to bring this story to life, both in factual elements and also the emotional turmoil that people would’ve suffered back then.

In the present storyline, Hannah is torn between the safety of her home and her job, and the possibility of expanding her horizons and finding new passions. She feels like she needs to take care of her ailing father, but she’s merely putting up walls to protect herself. Travelling to Europe to explore her grandmother’s story allows her to grow as a character and let others in.

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel allows us to glimpse into an element of our history that is largely unacknowledged. Sarah will find many devoted readers in this latest novel.

“One of the soldiers, not much older than Suzette, blocked their way, and Lucie felt Nicole’s tiny fingers tightening in her grip and the held breaths of the children behind her. She tried not to look at the weapon strapped across the man’s back, the ugly insignia on his black labels, the scars from his teenage acne.”

The long lost relationship between Hannah and her ex-boyfriend didn’t quite feel like it fit in the story. The reasons for their breakdown seemed to receive no resolution throughout the novel, so the ending felt a little unrealistic. It felt like Sarah put their resolution in the novel to suit the genre — which usually features a romance — than allowing the story to conclude in a natural fit.

The only other element of the book I struggled with was the large cast of characters in the 1942 storyline — gradual time spent in the book didn’t ease the confusion in some scenes, trying to remember how certain characters were connected to others.

“Hannah unlatched the gate to her childhood home and looked at the house with a critical eye. Its problems ran far deeper than a runaway rose bed and an invasion of ground elder…there would come a time, she knew, when they had to accept that a high-maintenance antique full of memories was no longer suitable for a solitary widower.”

Recommended for readers of historical fiction and family sagas. Readership skews female, 30+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Schoolteacher of Saint-Michel
Sarah Steele
December 2021
Hachette Book Publishers

The Russian Wife by Barry Maitland

When the Russian wife of the owner of one of the most valuable private collections of modern art in the UK is found dead, Detective Chief Inspector David Brock is drawn into a high-stakes world very different to his own. From the dealers and galleries in London’s West End, his investigations take him to Hanover, Miami and New York on the trail of international forgery and fraud.

At the same time, his old colleague Detective Chief Inspector Kathy Kolla, who now leads one of the Metropolitan Police Murder Investigation teams, finds herself at the wrong end of a corruption charge. With her whole career in the balance, she will do almost anything to clear her name.

Barry Maitland’s The Russian Wife is an extension of his well-loved crime series, following UK detectives David Brock and Kathy Kolla. Whilst this may be the 14th novel featuring these characters, Barry offers required explanation when referencing old storylines so that new readers don’t feel lost.

A standard police procedural, the core crime is about the apparent suicide of a Russian woman. But soon, when her lover also appears to commit suicide, it becomes clear there’s more to the story than what’s on the surface.

“They moved back out to the hall and Julian went upstairs to continue his search. Brock waited in the hallway, wondering what Miki had taken from the house in such a hurry; his mother’s computer?”

The Russian Wife is heavily embedded in the world of fine art and art fraud. Strengths include characterisation, particularly the secondary characters. Whilst it’s clear that the Russian wife’s death was not suicide at all, there are quite a few people in her life that could’ve been responsible so it does provide quite a bit of intrigue.

Whilst Barry’s writing style appears quite direct and perhaps flat, it does suit the genre well because it keeps the story stripped and fast-paced. We’re not bogged down by the writing or the prose — only relevant information is kept.

“The following day, Friday, Brock sat at his computer studying Miki Babington’s police record — three separate convictions for drug possessions and supply, two as a juvenile. He’d been lucky to avoid jail time.”

The book is let down by its Kathy Kolla storyline — it doesn’t tie in with the rest of the novel at all. She’s hunting a serial killer, and then suddenly suspended from her job over suspicion of corruption, but the problem appears to solve itself rather quickly without Kathy really doing anything. And then the storyline ends.

It’s incredibly lazy writing and completely unrealistic. The monologue confession is almost too easy, and then when the storyline wraps up Kathy merely moves on and it feels like the entire first half of the book was for nothing. It doesn’t feel like the two characters — Kathy and Brock — are working seamlessly in the book. They’re in conflict, and I think readers will feel disappointed with the plotting.

“Molly listed the three things that were necessary for an artwork to be recognised as authentic: an expert scholar of that artist’s work would have to agree that it looked right; forensic tests would have to confirm that the age and character of the work’s materials were appropriate; and there should be documentation connecting the present owner back to the artist in order to establish provenance.”

Fans of Barry’s works will enjoy this latest offering, but I do think seasoned crime and thriller readers will find themselves a little let down by the plotting of The Russian Wife.

Readership skews male, 30+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Russian Wife
Barry Maitland
December 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

Fancy Meeting You Here by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus

Sometimes the man of your dreams is standing right in front of you… only ten years in the past. A charming and unconventional love story about trying to rewrite history.

Evie Berry is a thirty-year-old wannabe screenwriter who spends her days managing a London cinema bar and making the podcast Pasta La Vista with her best friend Ben. She’s also obsessed with Hugo Hearst. Have you heard of him? Of course you have. He’s only one of the most influential and not to mention swoon-worthy bestselling writers of his generation.

When Evie’s not hooking up with her on-again, off-again booty call ‘Ever-Ready Freddy’ (and sometimes even when she is), she fantasises about what might have been if she’d met Hugo years ago, when he was just a struggling writer.

After Evie interviews a psychic to the stars on her podcast, her life is catapulted ten years into the past. But the grass isn’t quite as green as she remembers . . .

Romantic comedy Fancy Meeting You Here by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus explores what it’d be like to re-live your twenties, and pursue the relationship and the life you always felt you were meant to have.

Struggling screenwriter Evie has been ‘writing’ for almost a decade, but hasn’t gotten anywhere. And she’s obsessed with the local – and incredibly famous – writer and actor Hugo Hearst. When she is unexpectedly catapulted ten years in the past, she has the opportunity to meet Hugo while he’s writing his infamous debut novel, and the two spark a connection.

“Evie felt as if she were walking on air on the way home. Apart from her excitement at actually meeting Hugo, and how well they’d seemed to get on, she also felt bolstered by what he had said about his writing process.Her obsession with getting every single word perfect was not only exhausting, but also preventing her from making any real progress.”

Charming and enjoyable, Fancy Meeting You Here is a comfort novel and one that can be devoured in a short sitting. I’m sure all of us have wondered how our lives would alter if we could go back and re-do certain years, and so there’s a universality about this book that readers can relate to. It’s also quite a quirky read — the time travel, the eccentric characters, the novel within a novel.

The premise feels unconventional and unique, so fans of this genre will enjoy the story. Despite being written in third person and solely focused on Evie’s perspective, the book feels intimate and introspective, almost as if it were written in first person. The authors capture the relationship between Evie and Hugo incredibly well — the ups and downs, the chemistry and the tension. Both Evie and Hugo possess insecurities that threaten to throw a spanner in their achievements and career trajectories, and the authors manage the delicate balance of showcasing these characteristics and crafting them to be believable and realistic without appearing over-the-top.

“When she had snuck in well after eleven o’clock, her mum and dad had been on opposite sides of the couch sipping their respective glasses of wine, the tension in the air thick with hurt and disdain.”

There are a few moments in the novel that felt overtly pointed and therefore unnecessary, for example, when Evie is back working at the cinema and feels it’s important to educate her customers and colleagues on feminism and MeToo. This felt too didactic and preachy, borderline cringe. And it was a little too coincidental that a young Freddy would appear at the cinemas while Evie is working there.

Additionally, the ending was predictable but rushed, particularly Evie’s friendship with Ben. There is not as much character development for Evie as I would’ve liked — dating Hugo feels a bit manipulative and resembling entrapment, given how obsessed she is with him and how much she knows about him in the future. I’m not sure she fully registers how unsettling her behaviour is, although I do recognise it in a lot of women’s fiction.

“Hugo looked up at Evie and her heart skipped a beat. His face was so open, his eyes serious. At that moment, he didn’t look like the swanky, celebrity Hugo Hearst. He looked like an insecure man in need of affirmation. In fact, he seemed just like her.”

Punchy and fun, Fancy Meeting You Here is recommend for readers of romance and contemporary women’s fiction. Readership skews female, 25+

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Fancy Meeting You Here
Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus
December 2021
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers